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Ramanuja List Archive: Message 00052 Apr 2003

 
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Sri:
Srimathe Ramanujaya nama:
Srimad Vara Vara Munaye nama:
Dear Soundararajan,
Accept my pranams. To my knowledge,it is the "real" sita.
If not Sri Vacana BhUShaNam.8 will become pointless and our entire 
sampradayam will break down! I strongly believe in the genius of Sri 
PiLLai lOkcArya. Anyways FYI,SVB.8:

"pirAtti muRpadap pirindhadhu thannudaiya "krpayai/compassion" 
veLiyidugaikkAga; naduviR pirindhadhu "pArathanthryaththai/ 
subservience to the Lord" veLiyidugaikkAga; anantharam/later
pirindhadhu "ananyArhathvaththai/exclusive dependence on the Lord"
veLiyidugaikkAga". 

Another important thing you should know is that "sundara 
kANda" is the crown/heart of Srimad Valmiki Ramayana and it is packed 
with and rich in samskrt beauty and also love/devotion. The bhaktha 
Hanuman is the messenger between PerumAL and thAyAr. If one says that 
it was only "mAya" sita,then bhakti itself bcomes "mAya"! And leaving 
Sri Ramanuja sampradayam aside,all other vaiShNava sampradayams,which 
also believe in bhakti cult and those which claim that the "sita" who 
was abducted by Ravana was "mAyA",will lead to "self-contradiction". 
Do you catch this subtle point?

I'm guessing why Gaudiya sampradayam considers the "sita" 
abducted by the Ravana as mAyA for the following reason: Their's is 
just a vaiShNava sampradayam and ours is "srivaiShNavism". Now back 
to explaining SVB 8: the three essential traits which ensure fruitful 
mediation by thAyAr/Divine Mother are 

1. Compassion: for suffering masses,and hence the motive force to 
plead with the Lord for their salvation
2. Subservience:to the Lord so as to be able to compel the Lord's 
attention to her pleadings.
3. Exclusive Dependence: on the Lord,inclucating in Him,a sense of 
belonging and identity of interests with her.

the above three traits were displayed by Sita,incarnation Sri 
Mahalakshmi,when thAyAr got separated from PerumAL thrice.

Other devotees may enlighten you on this aspect in detail. 
Based on one's own "limited/unlimited" knowledge one can follow 
whatever one wants(if he/she happens to believe in free will). 
Personally I go by physics even in reliogious theory. So I consider 
a "religioius" theory perfect and complete if it can answer each and 
every aspect. Do not forget the fact that there are various versions 
of Srimad Valmiki Ramayana. AdikAvya by Sri Valmiki is the 
original/authentic and the one that comes closest to it is "kamba 
ramayanam" by Srikamban. So according to the AdikAya,it is not 
the "mAyA" sita but the "real" one. I hope bhAgavathAs will correct 
me if I am wrong. This is for your information: According to tulasi 
ramayanam,SriRama worshippd Siva in rameshvaram. Once I happened to 
listen to Sri HH's upanyAsam on Bhagavad Gita(some slokas). HH said 
that such an incidnc is not mentiond in Valmiki Ramayanam. 

On a different level,EmperumAnAr/Ramanuja(Rama+anuja= 
younger brother of Rama) learnt the esoteric meanings of Srimad 
Valmiki Ramayana from his maternal uncle Periya Tirumalai Nambi for 
an year. Emperumanar took it to his heart and implimented SriRama's 
dharmic system in the society but when it comes to his own 
personality he assumed the role of "sita". When Sriman Narayana/veda 
puruSha(puruSha in puruSha sUktham refers to none but Sriman 
Narayana) took the incarnation of SriRama, veda took the incarnation 
in the form of Srimad Valmiki Ramayana and "sita" is the truth. If 
someone says it is the "maya" sita,then it has the touch of 
Advaitham. Ravana didn't committ a grave sin compared to Kakasura
(Jayantha who was Indra's son). So was that Sita also "mAyA" sita 
according to gaudiya sampradaya??? 

Even I attended the program at ISKCON and I have heard 
about the same story that you have mentioned. But I didn't see any 
point to discuss this issue. Because I'm very clear about my Ramanuja 
and hence I have strong conviction that my Ramanuja will take care of 
my knowledge of his sampradayam and also its implimentation. My long 
term goal is to write a book by connecting Modern Physics with 
Srivisishtadvaitam and Ramanuja Sampradayam. But Sriman Narayana has 
to shower His grace on me for that task to be fulfilled. One 
bhAgavatha(indian,initiated in ISKCON)quoted "SrirAma rAma rAmEthi" 
and said krishna nama is equal to 1000 namas. According to the 
Ishvara uvAca,it is only "Srirama" nama is equal to chanting 1000 
namas and that too one should not take it literally. Sriman Narayana 
had made the life for some souls(who don't know samskrt and who 
suffer from other technical drawbacks)easier with SriRama nama. 

Shruthi is the authentic scripture and the rest(smrthi, 
epics,purAnAs etc)are secondary texts. All these secondary texts can 
be considered to be the truth/valid as long as they don't "conflict" 
with the shruthi. So finally according to the puruSha suktham(which 
appears in all the vedas),the puruSha/Sriman Narayana,is responsible 
for creation,sustentation and dissolution and hence every other name
(Srirama,Srikrishna etc)are the avathAra of Sriman Narayana. In Rg 
veda,you will see worship being offered to different deities(there is 
no mention of srirama or srikrishna!)and it says agni is the lowest 
god and vishnu is the highest god. You being a guy,have more 
advantage than me,and hence can learn a lot to further your 
understanding. 

See if you can read the article "Worship your own;Respect 
all" by sri HH Chinna jeeyar in www.chinnajeeyar.org. Also if 
possible,listen to couple of or all gita jyothi discourses by Sri 
Chinna Jeeyar swami. This would help you tremendously. I'm not sure 
whether they have put the audio files on the web yet. 

PS:Everything is said in the spirit of knowledge and hence forgive 
any type of sins committed unintentionally.

AzhvAr EmperumAnr JIyar thiruvadigaLE sharaNam
NC Nppinnai






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